Typewriter ribbons



Aug. 21, 1956 H, A. JUENGERKES 2,759,586

TYPEWRITER RIBBON S Filed Jan. 27, 1953 IN VEN TOR.

BY 77km ATTORNEYS United States Patent TYPEWRITER RIBBONS Herman A. Juengerkes, Islip, N. Y., assignor to M. Storms Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 27, 1953, Serial No. 333,539 6 Claims. (Cl. 197-172) This invention relates to the manufacture of typewriter ribbons and it has particular relation to the manufacture of so-called bichrome, trichrome, etc. ribbons having portions containing variously colored inks, said colored portions being separated by intermediate strips of the ribbon, in order to prevent interfusion or running together of the colors.

According to a previous suggestion, individual portions of a typewriter ribbon were provided with ink compositions of different colors, using in said compositions a non-drying oil and a pigment with the addition of an aniline base color dissolved in oleic acid or other fatty acid. In order to prevent interfusion of colors, an intermediate strip located between the colored portions of the ribbon, was impregnated with an alkali, e. g. sodium carbonate or caustic soda. According to another previous suggest-ion, the intermediate strip for separating portions of different color of the typewriter ribbon, was impregnated with glue or shellac in order to serve as a barrier between the various colored portions. It has also been suggested to use between ribbon portions containing different colors dissolved in oil, a relatively narrow intermediate strip impregnated with a color composition containing no oil-soluble coloring material, in order to prevent interfusion.

These suggestions were often not satisfactory, either because the material used for impregnation of the intermediate separating strip had an adverse effect on the base material of the ribbon, or because, in spite of the use of the impregnated separating strip, interfusion could not be satisfactorily and/ or permanently prevented.

The main object of the present invention is to provide typewriter ribbons, in which separate portions of the ribbon contain oil-soluble dyes of different color and in which interfusion of the different colors is satisfactorily prevented without the occurrence of any adverse effect on the typewriter ribbon base material or the color compositions.

Other objects and the advantages of the invention will be apparent from the appended claims and the following specification which describes by way of example and without limitation some embodiments of the invention.

It has been found that typewriter ribbons containing two or more separated portions impregnated with ink compositions of oil-soluble dyes having different colors, and being free from interfusion of the inks, can be obtained by separating the differently colored portions of the ribbon by a strip impregnated with a composition of the type described hereinafter. The use of these compositions safely prevents interfusion and said compositions have no undesired effect on the base material of the ribbon and on the colored portions impregnated with inks.

The enclosed drawing diagrammatically illustrates part of a typewriter ribbon containing two differently colored portions separated by a strip for preventing interfusion of color between said portions.

In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a first colored portion of the ribbon, which may be, for example, blue or black, and 2 denotes a second colored portion which may be, for example, red. A narrow strip 3 of 2,759,586 Patented Aug- 21, 1956 the ribbon extending, for example, along the longitudinal center line of the ribbon, is provided, e. g. impregnated or printed, with a composition of the type described in the following examples.

Example 1 A composition for impregnation of the separating strip of a bichrome typewriter ribbon or the like, is prepared by mixing the following ingredients:

Parts by weight Chlorinated natural rubber 40 Tricresyl phosphate 30 Glycerol ester of hydrogenated rosin 30 Ethyl acetate 60 Toluene 40 The chlorinated rubber used in this composition is a White granular powder having a specific gravity of about 1.64 and an average chlorine content of about 67%. It is obtained by chlorination of natural rubber and consists substantially of a mixture of two chlorination products, one of which contains about 61.3% of chlorine and a second product which contains about 68.2% of chlorine. It is resistant to the action of weak and string acids and alkalies and to salt solutions. Such chlorinated natural rubber is sold by the Hercules Powder Company under the trade name Parlon.

A glycerol ester of hydrogenated rosin suitable to be used in the composition of this example is marketed by the Hercules Powder Company under the trademark Staybelite Ester 10.

Example 2 A composition for the treatment of separating strips according to the invention, is prepared by mixing the following ingredients:

18 parts by weight of nitrocellulose (pyroxylin) 12 parts by weight of tricresyl phosphate 50 parts by weight of ethyl acetate, and

20 parts by weight of toluene are mixed to form a composition for the impregnation of the separating strips according to the invention.

Example 4 A composition for the impregnation of separating strips in typewriter ribbons is prepared from the following ingredients:

18 parts by weight of cellulose acetate, 12 parts by weight of tricresyl phosphate, 20 parts by weight of methanol,

50 parts by weight of ethyl acetate.

In carrying out the invention, first the separating strip is provided with a composition described in one of the above examples, e. g. by impregnation or printing and, subsequently, two or more differently colored dye compositions containing oil-soluble dyes, are introduced in conventional manner into the desired ink bearing portions of the ribbon. The ribbons thus prepared have been found to be free from interfusion of colors and very satisfactory in use.

It will be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific materials, compositions, proportions, steps and other specific details described above and can be carried out with various modifications.

For example, the invention can be applied not only to typewriter ribbons, but also to ink transfer ribbons having a typing or similar mechanism, e. g. in adding machines, check protecting machines and other business machines. The term transfer ribbon is used in the appended claims to include typewriter ribbons as well as all these other ink transfer ribbons. The ink transfer ribbons according to the invention comprise preferably a woven base material, e. g. a cotton, silk, artificial silk, linen or other fabric having an adequate ink absorptive capacity, strength and flexibility, or another suitable tape or ribbon material. The width of the separating strip used according to the invention may vary, but I have found that a width in the range of A3 to & gives satisfactory results. The compositions described in the above Examples 14, are substantially clear liquids. In these compositions, instead of cellulose acetate and ethyl cellulose, other cellulose derivatives, such as cellulose acetate butyrate, and cellulose acetate propionate, butyrate, and methyl cellulose can be used. The cellulose acetate mentioned in Example 4 is a conventional mixture of triacetate and other cellulose acetates. The ink-bearing portions of the ribbon may have equal or different dimensions. As an example of black ink, a composition of 30 parts of oleic acid, parts of nigrosine base, 50 parts of mineral oil and 10 parts of carbon black may be mentioned. A red ink used in ribbons according to the invention may, for example, consist of 20 parts of oleic acid, 10 parts of rhodamine base, 10 parts of lithol toner and 60 parts of castor oil. These inks are preferably mixtures of oil dye solutions with dispersed pigments insoluble in oil and dyes soluble in oil.

What is claimed is:

1. A transfer ribbon comprising portions of different colors, each portion containing a colored material dissolved in oil, said ribbon having at least one intermediate strip adjoining and separating colored portions, said intermediate strip being impregnated, for preventing interfusion between the colored portions, with the evaporation residue of a composition comprising 12% to 15% of tricresyl phosphate, 18% to 20% of a substance selected from the group of chlorinated rubber, cellulose esters and cellulose ethers, and 50% to 70% of a volatile organic liquid in which these ingredients are dissolved.

2. A transfer ribbon as claimed in claim 1, in which the impregnated composition contains as an additional ingredient the glycerol ester of hydrogenated rosin in an amount equal to that of tricresyl phosphate.

3. A transfer ribbon comprising portions of different colors, each portion containing a colored material dissolved in oil, said ribbon having at least one intermediate strip adjoining and separating colored portions, said intermediate strip being impregnated, for preventing interfusion between the colored portions, with the evaporation residue of a composition essentially consisting of 18 parts by weight of nitrocellulose, 12 parts by weight of tricresyl phosphate, 50 parts by weight of ethyl acetate and 20 parts by weight of toluene.

4. A transfer ribbon comprising portions of diiferent colors, each portion containing a colored material dissolved in oil, said ribbon having at least one intermediate strip adjoining and separating colored portions, said intermediate strip being impregnated, for preventing intcrfusion between the colored portions, with the evaporation residue of a composition essentially consisting of 18 parts by weight of cellulose acetate, 12 parts by weight of tricresyl phosphate, 20 parts by weight of methanol, and 50 parts by weight of ethyl acetate.

5. A transfer ribbon comprising portions of different colors, each portion containing a colored material dissolved in oil, said ribbon having at least one intermediate strip adjoining and separating colored portions, said intermediate strip being impregnated, for preventing interfusion between the colored portions, with the evaporation residue of a composition essentially consisting of 40 parts by weight of chlorinated rubber, 30 parts by weight of tricresyl phosphate, 30 parts by weight of glycerol ester of hydrogenated rosin, parts by weight of ethyl acetate and 40 parts by weight of toluene.

6. A transfer ribbon comprising portions of different colors, each portion containing a colored material dissolved in oil, said ribbon having at least one intermediate strip adjoining and separating colored portions, said intermediate strip being impregnated, for preventing interfusion between the colored portions, with the evaporation residue of a composition essentially consisting of 20 parts by weight of ethyl cellulose, 15 parts by weight of tricresyl phosphate, 15 parts by weight of glycerol ester of hydrogenated rosin, 30 parts by weight of ethyl acetate and 20 parts by weight of methanol.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,364,788 Neidich Jan. 4, 1921 1,392,458 Stark Oct. 4, 1921 1,904,628 Pelton Apr. 18, 1933 1,961,906 Mossfelt et al. June 5, 1934 2,351,073 Sherman June 13, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 138,439 Australia Aug. 21, 1950 664,456 Great Britain Jan. 9, 1952 OTHER REFERENCES Simonds et al.: Handbook of Plastics, 2nd ed., 1949; D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., N. Y. Only pages 396 and 397 relied on. 

